Cycling is like life. Cycling with no goal is meaningless. What meaning is there cycling in circles? Or living aimlessly? Meaning comes from direction and destination. Join me in my life's journey on a mountain bike :)

Blogging since 2003. Thank you for reading :))

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Colonial bar

Portsdown Road, 35 km. Wessex. Tangier. And a colonial bar ("Colbar") built over 50 years ago in a place that must've reminded the colonial masters of home. The bar is dismantled after an uproar from patrons when the bar was to be bulldozed to make way for progress, then is redesigned, relocated and rebuilt (with original weathered wood and peeling paint). It retains its original feel on the inside (including black and white photos) but a lot more space (and new building material) on the outside. Now, that's progress. Also making me feel good (despite my nasty sore throat) is the company for today.

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Total distance

71,784 km

All distances are round trips, starting from my home in Singapore unless otherwise stated: about 21,500 km on my Iron Horse, about 44,900 km on Little Red Tank and about 5,000 km on Matt Black (as of 31 Jan 2017)

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Annual distance

2016 distance: 2253. Another turbulent year, with lowest mileage since 2002 (the year I started cycling regularly). Did two expeditions: Sri Lanka and Sabah (with the latter, I've cycled in all states in East and West Malaysia). What affected cycling? Mostly work, and not doing any charity rides this year (in past years, I did 1-2, which adds 1,000 km).

Cumulative distance since 1995: 70, 735 km

2015 distance: 3,072 km. A year of upheaval, including not completing a charity ride (a first!). A last burst effort to make the numbers leaves 2014 still the all-time low mileage, and I have fun along the way

Cumulative distance since 1995: 68,436 km

2014 distance: 3,061 km. The lowest mileage since I started serious cycling in 2003. Inversely proportional to the travails I face outside of cycling.

Cumulative distance since 1995: 65,364 km

2013 distance: 3,204 km; the world is about 41,000 km in circumference, I've cycled 2.5 times that distance. Yet, new things still happen to me.

Cumulative distance since 1995: 62,303 km

2012 distance: 5,122 km; I go on two epic rides. The first is my toughest ever, including one day with 18 hours on the road. The second involves catastrophic failure and is the first time I abort a ride while abroad.

2011 distance: 4,407 km; I cycle the highest, get the coldest so far (2,600m, 7 degrees Celsius plus wind and rain) and meet just about the warmest people in Taiwan.

2010 distance: 4,928 km; I take part in two charity rides and two trips in Borneo (the second one being a charity ride).

2009 distance: 3,500 km; somehow, I manage to cycle a little further than last year. This year, I also do a multi-day stage race - in Timor Leste. What a ride, what a country.

2008 distance: 3,235 km; lower by almost 2,000 km compared to 2007's already-low distance. Partly because I run more, ride less. To recover, I ride in the flatlands of Cambodia. Which turns out to be harder than Laos.

2007 distance: 5,125 km; a dramatic drop compared to last year's 6,729 km. The year of my most complex expedition to date: cycling in Laos.